Effects of Mobile Apps on Learning Motivation and Study Performance of Nursing Students

Abstract

This paper reports a study on the effects of mobile apps on the learning motivation and study performance of nursing students. A total of 20 students participated in focus group interviews for collecting qualitative feedback on their learning motivation and use of mobile apps for learning. Two consecutive cohorts of students in a nursing programme, each with about 200 students, were recruited for the quantitative part of the study for assessing their learning motivation through a survey and study performance by two tests. The results showed that the students actively used the mobile apps for studying supplementary learning materials. The students maintained a relatively high level of motivation for performing and learned well, but they had relatively low perceived satisfaction and self-efficacy with mobile learning. They showed better study performance after practising mobile learning. Positive correlation was found between students’ motivation in terms of intrinsic value and the improvement in learning performance after practising mobile learning. This study also suggests that students’ perceived intrinsic value with mobile learning has to be enhanced for improving their study performance.